Battletech - Technical Readout - Project Phoenix.pdf - EN - Matrinicz

Confidential: Eyes Only

From: Precentor XIV-Delta Tempest Stryker

To: Precentor ROM Victoria Parrdeau

Date: 7 August 3067

Precentor Martial Anastasius Focht was a fool.

I know that most people consider him to be the savior of mankind and a hero the likes of which we've not seen since Aleksandr Kerensky. As such, my words are tantamount to blasphemy

and I'm confident censure will be forthcoming. Nevertheless, we have known each other for years and you know me; I feel that my views must become known.

In 3058 our zealot brethren recaptured Terra. What did Focht do? Did he attempt to take it back? Attempt to put down the rabid dog that our lost brethren have become? No, instead he

"contained" them while he dealt with his obsession: the Clans. Of course the Clan threat needed to be settled, but not at the expense of all else. Because of that, our current Precentor Mar-

tial pushed all other responsibilities from his mind-and gave us five years of Civil War! At least the Clans are a known element, staring across a battlefield from the cockpit of a Mad Cat with

their customs and traditions.

It is the unknown enemy, however, that I fear will be our undoing, an enemy Focht should have eliminated years ago. While we spent so much time distracted first by the Clans and then by

our own foolish notions of loyalty to one House or another, when instead we should have only been loyal to the Order, the serpent in the grass has been stealing our eggs.

In mid 3064, numerous Cohorts from the elite Legions of the Marian Hegemony struck like a hammer's blow onto the worlds of Blantleff and Maximillian in the Circinus Federation. All that

stood in the way of the complete annihilation and absorption of the Federation-like the ill-fated Illyrian Palatinate before it-were the Black Warriors and McIntyre House Guard; a more mis-

matched confrontation I cannot imagine. Yet by the end of 3064, the Hegemony forces had been stopped cold and an uneasy peace had ensued. The Inner Sphere was so preoccupied with

its own bitter struggles that almost no one questioned why. Only after intensive investigations by myself, along with several well-placed ROM agents, did the truth become known.

In an eerie similarity to Primus Myndo Waterly's actions in handing over Star League vintage BattleMechs to the Combine, which helped to shock and paralyze the Federated Commonwealth

into aborting their bid to destroy House Kurita in 3039, it is my firm belief that the Word of Blake handed over prized new BattleMechs to the Federation. These BattleMechs were not new

machines rolling off of any production line known to currently exist, however.

Instead, the four different machines documented by ROM in the Black Warriors' employ were heavily modified versions of older BattleMechs that have been in use for centuries. Additionally,

unlike previous "field upgrades," not only did these incorporate the latest technology into the very bones and hearts of the machines, but they extensively upgraded their physical appear-

ance. That the four machines employed new League and Confederation technology only further cements my belief of their source.

It is known that most of the new technology developed in both Houses was due to the assistance of the Word of Blake. Furthermore, it is extremely disturbing to note that the Confederation

does not have a single line capable of producing either the Phoenix Hawk or Marauder-so where were they manufactured? That is a question that keeps me up at night. Why the fanatics

chose this route is unknown. Yet like the unknown movements of an alien creature, you only learn its ultimate intention when it eviscerates you. All we know today are the interesting conse-

quences of this latest plot.

Giovanni Estrella De la Sangre, Demeter's planetary governor and CEO of Vicore Industries, learned of these "new" 'Mech designs-we are still unsure where the leak originated from, but we

cannot rule out that Giovanni is a Word of Blake agent himself. Officially, at least, he was so intrigued by the thought and its potential for revenue for his world that he sank a vast portion of

his considerable personal wealth into creating numerous prototypes that mirror these Blakist machines to a "T," acquiring the necessary technologies through both legal and nefarious means.

Furthermore, he built proofs of concept for several other older BattleMechs. From there he designed additional variants based on these 'new' 'Mech chassis, incorporating new technologies

garnered from other Houses. He then spent the next year meeting with the heads of such major arms manufacturers as General Motors, Defiance Industries, and Earthwerks, using

"acquired" battle ROMs showing these "new" BattleMechs in action to aid in selling his idea.

Already Giovanni has managed to sell his nascent Project Phoenix in the right circles, an amazing testament to the fact that, while a millennia separates us from the first use of electricity,

"medicine men" can still sell us our snake oil. The Confederation in particular has already begun a small but aggressive program of recycling older machines and using scavenged parts to

help build their next generation of 'Mechs; I'm confident the other Houses are only waiting to see if this plan is a success before enacting their own.

Construction is still happening on a small scale, and production runs will likely account for only a small fraction of the total BattleMech output for some time to come; nonetheless, these ma-

chines are by all accounts here to stay.

Attached to this transmission are the specifications on the first of these BattleMechs; I'll append future transmissions with additional specifications as they become available.

Inner Sphere Mechs

LCT-5M Locust xx

Mass: 20 tons

Chassis: Corean-II Delux Endo Steel

Power Plant: Hermes 240 XL

Cruising Speed: 129.6 kph

Maximum Speed: 194.4 kph

Jump Jets: None

Jump Capacity: None

Armor: Kallon FWL Special Ferro-Fibrous

Armament:

1 Magna Mk VI Extended Range Medium Laser

4 Magna Mk IV Extended Range Small Lasers

Manufacturer: Corean Enterprises

Primary Factory: Stewart

Communications System: Garret T10 B

Targeting & Tracking System: Corean CalcMaster

DEPLOYMENT

True to their word, Blakist officials from the Office of Procure-

ment arrived at the completion of the first production run for

the LCT-5M. The new 'Mechs were shipped in Level II size to

each Blakist Division and dispersed, giving each Level III ac-

cess to at least one new LCT-5M.

Type: LCT-5M Locust

Technology Base: Inner Sphere

Tonnage: 20

Battle Value: 516

Equipment: Mass

Internal Structure: Endo Steel 1

Engine 240 XL 6

Walking MP: 12

Running MP: 18

Jumping MP: 0

Heat Sinks 10 [20]

Gyro: 3

Cockpit: 3

Armor Factor: 69 4

Internal Armor

Structure Value

Head 3 9

Center Torso 6 9

Center Torso (Rear) 3

R/L Torso 5 8

R/L Torso (Rear) 2

R/L Arm 3 6

R/L Leg 4 8

Weapons & Ammo Location Critical Mass

ER Medium Laser CT 1 1

2 ER Small Lasers RT 2 1

2 ER Small Lasers LT 2 1

VARIANTS

Corean Enterprises was the only manufacturer in the Inner

Sphere that began production of the new Locust . Achernar

BattleMechs agreed to terms with Vicore, but has not yet be-

gun production. They are slated to start up on August 1 3067.

They will be producing the LCT-5M after purchasing the li-

cense from Corean Enterprises. Currently, the remaining

Houses have expressed no interest in the Locust program.

OVERVIEW

Corean Enterprises initially balked at the idea of investing

any cash into the Locust program until they received assur-

ances from the Word of Blake that the Militia would purchase

the first year's limited production run. After studying the plans

of the redesign, they were thoroughly impressed and satisfied

with what they saw. The redesign would require very little

capital investment for start up, and Corean moved forward

confident in the knowledge that the company would reap

plenty of profit in producing the new Locust. Agreeing to

terms with Vicore, contracts were signed and designs li-

censed, after which Corean Enterprises designated the Lo-

cust the LCT-5M and began production.

The Periphery nations, on the other hand, readily agreed to

the new design. They were happy to have a design that

would take advantage of their latest Rocket Launcher Tech-

nology. Two variants were introduced to the Periphery na-

tions.

The LCT-5V has been picked up by both the Magistracy of

Canopus and Taurian Concordat for production. This variant

would incorporate Ferro-Fibrous Armor, two extended range

medium lasers and two Rocket Launcher 10s. The original

160 LTV engine would be used keeping the original speed of

the Locust.

The LCT-1V2 variant has been seen in the forces of the

Marian Hegemony, but where it has been manufactured is

unknown at the current time. Speculations and rumors from

the region, however, are rife concerning a new small-scale

BattleMech factory located within the depths of the Hegem-

ony. Considering the rumors circulating concerning a major

new Germanium find, the two could go hand in hand. This

variant appears to remove all the weapons save one medium

laser and add four Rocket Launcher 10s.

CAPABILITIES

The Locust redesign required a few fundamental design

changes. The engineers on the R&D team decided that the

best attribute of the Locust was its speed and further made

the choice to increase the 'Mech's speed by thirty-three per-

cent. They did this by replacing the Magna 160 with the Her-

mes 240 XL power plant. To take advantage of the new

speed, the designers replaced the original LCT-3M's weap-

ons with a loadout of extended range lasers. In doing so, they

dropped the Anti-Missile System and CASE, increasing the

'Mech's armor protection to its maximum.

LCT-5M Locust xx

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